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Submicrometer phase chemical composition analysis with an electron probe microanalyzer
Author(s) -
Wang Frank ChengYu
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
x‐ray spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.447
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1097-4539
pISSN - 0049-8246
DOI - 10.1002/xrs.1300230504
Subject(s) - electron microprobe , microanalysis , electron probe microanalysis , analytical chemistry (journal) , tungsten , tungsten carbide , ceramic , cobalt , chemical state , materials science , valence (chemistry) , contamination , chemical composition , phase (matter) , chemistry , mineralogy , metallurgy , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , environmental chemistry , nuclear magnetic resonance , physics , ecology , organic chemistry , biology
Submicrometer phase quantitative analysis is always a challenging problem for electron beam microanalysis because the phase is smaller than the electron beam and the specimen interaction volume. In order to obtain more accurate composition information, other analytical techniques need to be used to clarify the elements present and characterize the valence state of major elements in that submicrometer phase In this study, the electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) was used to determine the contamination phase in the tungsten carbide‐cobalt ceramic system. The average size of the contamination phase was approximately 0.5 μm in diameter. The chemical composition of the contamination phase was elucidated by combining results from x‐ray mapping, valence state determination and EPMA quantitative analysis data. The effect of the contamination phase in the tungsten carbide‐cobalt ceramic system is also discussed.